Chapter Text
Trust: “the firm belief in the reliability, truth, ability, or strength of someone or something.” For as long as you could remember, trusting another was just a thing of fairytales. A dream. Eventually, you came to realize that the only one that could ever truly be trusted was yourself. That was… until fate dragged him into the mix.
…
Cold. Cold and unfamiliar… Why was it so cold? Your muddled brain tried to make sense of it all. This cold was bitter and painful to the touch. Its all-consuming bite startled you into awareness, your eyes blinking away the remnants of a fitful sleep. The air around you had an uncomfortable thickness to it that made it hard to breathe. Your senses screamed at you. Every touch beneath your fingertips stung of freezing metal. Your eyes waking to the sight of bars encircling you in cage. What started out as slow arrival to consciousness hit you all at once and you realized this wasn’t a dream.
With eyes wide, you took in your surroundings and recognized that this wasn’t an ordinary cage. It was a birdcage. And while there was plenty of room for you to stretch your wings, you found yourself chained to center of the floor by the ankle. Testing its limits, you stood and carefully made your way to the front of the cage where a door was located. The cage itself was unsteady and rocked with every movement. The chain only just allowed you to reach the bars without much room to give. There, you looked down in horror at the bottomless, pitch-black water that swayed hundreds of feet below you.
Heights were never a fear of yours, especially with your wings eliminating the obstacle of falling. But this was terrifying. Suspended hundreds of feet in the air, trapped in a massive birdcage hidden in what looks like some kind of offshore rig; you curl into yourself and try to remember how you ended up here. Your mind was foggy, making it hard to decipher your last memory. You vaguely remember sitting perched upon your rooftop, watching as the sun set over the peaceful patch of land you called home. Its vibrant array of colors painted the clouds in pastels as you earnestly worked to replicate their image on the small canvas before you. Painter’s palette in one hand and brush in the other, your eyes bounced meticulously between your work and nature’s own. As engulfed as you were in the artwork slowly coming alive, you felt no stress; only peace… and a love of life. Art was the love of your life and you’d spend every waking minute enjoying the sense of home it created within you with every swipe of paint on canvas. Your work was your safe place. Here you splayed out all your emotions in ways words can’t describe. Painting was like coming home; escaping to a world all your own, where nothing can hurt you. It was there, upon that rooftop that you felt a sudden pinch at the nape of your neck. Within a moment it all turned to darkness. The last image you could make out being that of the horrid red paint smear that struck across your canvas as you fell to the ground.
…
You sat yourself down in the center of the cage as you took in the wrongness of the situation. Everything was wrong. You couldn’t remember a thing, your clothes were replaced by nothing but an old tee shirt and sweatpants, and you were hung up on display like some kind of wild animal. It was cold, dark, and quiet. Too quiet. You started to get lost in your fears, quivering at the thoughts until a sudden sound caught your ears. It was soft and subtle but ever so familiar. A sound only you would know. Or… perhaps not? It was the gentle whisper of ruffling feathers.
Cautiously, you turned your gaze to the far left. Just behind you, buried in the darkness lay a large bundle of bright red feathers. You squinted, trying to make out the image. Suddenly you realized those feathers belonged to a massive pair of wings that covered the body of a man. A man you recognized. The well renowned hero: Hawks. The second highest ranked hero in all of Japan. You let out a soft gasp at the sight of your own greatest inspiration across from you in a cage of his own. The man himself rested unconsciously, curled into his relaxed wings. His golden locks tousled, and his face scuffed up. You could tell he put up a fight. Which was more than you could say for yourself.
The red feathers ruffled again, and your eyes jumped to the ones before you. Hawks groggily blinked and focused his gaze on the person in front of him.
“It’s you,” he breathed.
You stuttered. “What?”
“It’s you,” he repeated.
You started to wonder if he’d been drugged.
“You know who I am?”
“Of course, I know who you are. How many winged heroes have you met?”
You blinked.
“Exactly,” he added.
“But I’m no hero. I’m just one girl. I’m not anything special.”
He smirked. “Your wings say otherwise.”
You didn’t know whether that came as an insult or a compliment, so you simply looked away. His tone suddenly shifted as he moved to sit up.
“How did we get here? Where are we?” He asked as he rubbed the back of his head.
“You’re guess is as good as mine,” you shrugged.
He glanced you up and down, taking in the sight of you sat there holding your knees to your chest when he noticed-
“Are we in-?
“Birdcages?” His eyes snapped to yours. “Yeah.”
Your tone remained cold and casual. “Still think the wings are special?”
He looked away and then back at you with a quiet look of concern on his face.
“Have you tried your quirk?” He asked.
“No… Kinda pointless when all I have is these wings.” You sassed. “Sorry to disappoint you, but I’m afraid I won’t be of much help in this situation.”
He made a look of dissatisfaction. The two of you sat in silence, taking in the severity of your circumstances. Sucking in a deep sigh, Hawks careful took note of his own change in attire. In place of his usually eye-catching hero gear, he now wore a matching pair of ratty, blueish-grey sweats.
“Well, this is awkward,” He frowned in distaste. “I don’t like the thought of their grabby hands on us without us knowing.”
“God, please don’t remind me,” you cringed. “We got enough shit to worry about as it is. Let’s not theorize, shall we?”
“Right… my bad. Sorry,” said Hawks.
You sat in silence, trying not to let your thoughts wander. But there was one thing you couldn’t wrap your head around. You turned to him with a look of suspicion on your face.
“Hey… How is it you know who I am? I mean… I specifically moved away from everything I knew to avoid being found. How do you know about me…?”
The hero scoffed humorously. “Come on, kid. Second highest ranked hero in Japan, remember? Plus, my whole shtick is stealth and reconnaissance. You know, the whole ‘I see you, but you don’t see me’ kinda thing. If there’s anything, and I mean anything that calls for the slightest bit of suspicion, I’d find out about it one way or another. It is my job after all,” he said sarcastically.
“Oh, I’m sorry, hot shot, I thought your job was to protect people, not find them out. Especially when they’ve done nothing to warrant being searched for in the first place,” you glared.
Hawks smirked in surprise. “Of course, it’s my job to protect people but unfortunately, it’s not all up to me. It’s not up to me to decide what work I do or don’t do. Watch yourself, kid…” he said calmly. “You may think you know it all, but you don’t. I can promise you that. I wouldn’t have found you out if it wasn’t of upmost importance.”
You laughed. “Upmost importance? What about me just trying to live a life of solitude out in the countryside says ‘upmost importance’ to you? Please explain.”
The man huffed in frustration. “Look, kid. I didn’t mean it as a bad thing. I was just doing what I was told, and I was told to research and record any unrecognized civilians with quirks like mine.”
You raised your brow in suspicion. “Like yours?”
His only response was the sudden expansion of his ever-so-vibrant ruby red wings.
“Ah… I see,” you muttered expectedly.
Hawks grew curious at your sullen reaction. “What is it? What’s wrong?” He inched closer to you from within his cage, chain dragging behind him subtly. The structure tilted ever so slightly with his movement, calling your attention.
“Its just… I told you. These wings are nothing special,” you sighed and clenched your jaw. “Sometimes… I wish I could just be rid of them. All they’ve ever brought me is trouble.”
Hawks furrowed his brow in silent concern. “What’re you talking about?”
“Look, Hawks… You’re amazing. You really are! And I’ve looked up to you ever since I first heard of you. ‘Winged hero: Hawks saves the day again with his brilliant Fierce Wings!’” You said animatedly before lowering your head with a sigh. “Your wings are what people recognize you for, and that’s great. People see those bright red feathers of yours and they know… they’re safe.” The man sat perfectly still as he listened. “But that’s simply not the case with me…” You pause and turn to look him in the eye. “People take one look at me and run the other way.” Your eyes met his. “You’re a hero Hawks, and I love that about you… But you’ve got it all wrong. I may have wings… but I’m nothing like you.” You looked away.
The silence between you was so thick you could cut it with a knife. Hawks turned and leaned himself up against the bars of his cage. He sat parallel to you with his own knees hugged loosely to his chest. Thoughts whirled in his head after all that you’d said. He understood what it felt like to be burdened by your quirk. What he didn’t understand was why? Why did people see your beautiful spotted wings and run the other way? All he could think of was how starstruck he was when he first found out about you. ‘Another feathered mutant with wings that could rival my own!’ He smiled to himself. But when he looked at you… all he saw in your eyes was sadness. It didn’t make any sense.
It was then that the hero promised to himself that he would find a way to get you to see your wings the same way he did. With nothing but awe and admiration. As he sat there, thinking to himself; the hero couldn’t help but fight the swirl of jealously building in his chest. But not just jealousy… Confusion, too. Sure… even if people didn’t like your wings for some stupid reason that still doesn’t explain why you’re so unhappy. How could you be when you had all the freedom in the world? ‘Fuck what everybody else thinks,’ he thought to himself. ‘You’ve got the whole world at your fingertips! You can adventure and explore and fly to your heart’s content with no one to tell you what to do!’ His eyes turned to you, taking in your depressed figure sat in the center of your cage. ‘So why…? Why are you so… Sad?’ The question made him worry.
“Oh, and it’s Beira,” you said suddenly.
“What?” The break in silence caught him by surprise.
“My name… You keep calling me ‘kid.’” You looked him in the eye and spoke softly. “My name is Beira. ‘BAY-rah’,” you pronounced aloud. “B.E.I.R.A. Beira. In case you needed me to spell it out for you… Since apparently you missed that in your research.” You quirked a single brow in annoyance.
The hero laughed under his breath; his lips twitched with a half-smile. “Well… ‘BAY-rah’,” he teased as he gently stuck a hand through the bars of his cage. “It’s a pleasure to officially meet you. I’m Hawks.”
For the first time since you woke up in this horrid place… a smile snuck its way onto your face as you tried not to chuckle under your breath. You were trying hard not to blush.
“The pleasure is mine,” you said kindly as you took his hand in yours.